What area of town do you focus on?

All of this has been very helpful since we are also out town investors.   

Some towns would make you get a variance which can be a pain.

I found another realtor accidentally who was younger and had much less experience than these two other realtors, but she was house hacking herself in the town that I wanted to buy in. 

If the land needs to be annexed from a county into a city or town and you get that done, its value has increased.

That can be caused by presence of black mold. https://www.moldsafesolutions.com/mold-rage/Do nothing immediately but if they report similar incidents again and again,  or the next tenant also reports something similar, it may be a time to explore this angle (instead of calling the ghost busters ) !!

He recently moved to Tulum, Mexico and while walking around town one day "scouting" for properties, he spotted an empty lot that he thinks has a lot of potential.

I have been exploring some of the surrounding areas, as well as Greenville, SC and Johnson City, TN.

Don't let that point be lost on you.After you change PMs, I would make it clear to these tenants that there is a "new sheriff in town" and the lease is a binding, legal contract which you take very seriously. 

The town I had an SFR rental, people don't care for absentee landlord or their tenants, said so to my face, and call the town on various issues, such as if the lawns are not mowed.